Flex Able Certification

How Can You Tell Which Employer is Truly Walking the Talk?

At WORK180 we’re all about making it easy for female job seekers to identify the best places to work for women, and evaluate companies before applying.

Flexible working is not just for mothers returning to work but for those with other caring commitments, health reasons, sporting interests, people looking for an alternative to retirement and those pursuing side projects. Companies with the most engaged workforces offer flexibility and are focused on creating an inclusive culture where the reason for needing flexibility does not matter.

Flex Able certification is awarded to organisations after a careful examination of when, where and how the company's employees work to ensure flexible work options are a reality.

What is the criteria for organisations to become Flex Able Certified?

The purpose of WORK180 Flex Able Certification is to allow employers that walk the talk on flexible working to differentiate themselves from other employers and be easily identifiable to job seekers who value flexible working arrangements.

The Flex Able Certification is an annual audit process based on evidence of the following:

The CEO and senior leadership team support flexible working. The tone at the top is a key driver for the implementation and uptake of flexible working throughout an organisation.

A number of flexible working arrangements are on offer and are supported throughout the organisation. We recognise flexibility means different things to individuals and there are many forms of both formal and informal flexible working arrangements.

Flexible working is promoted to employees so they are aware it is available to everyone and their career will not be limited by using it.

Managers are supported in their management of flexible work arrangements.

WORK180 reject around 15% of employers who apply to be Flex Able Certified as they cannot fully demonstrate compliance with our criteria.

What are the Business Benefits of Flexibility?

In a recent Australian survey commissioned by Airtasker, 38% of those surveyed indicated that flexibility was more important to them than pay when looking for work. The study also found 81.5%, up from 76% in 2015, of people surveyed, agreed that the traditional employment model of the 9am to 5pm office job was inflexible for workers in 2016 and into the future.

In addition, research by PwC found that increasing the female employment rate in Australia to match that of Sweden, for example, could result in a GDP boost of about $162 billion at today's values over the long run.

But despite numerous business benefits of flexibility including increased productivity, savings in real estate, lower turnover and increased innovation, less than 50% of non-public sector organisations with over 100 employees offer and support flexible work. The issue is, many organisations claim to offer flexibility, but don’t actually walk the talk.

WORK180 conducted a survey in the beginning of 2017 to identify the top priorities for women in the workplace. We found that flexible working policies were among the most valued priorities. Yet, less than 50% of the non-public sector offer flexibility. At WORK180Jobs you can find out the level of flexibility within an organisation by looking out for the Flex Able Certification.

Become Flex Able Certified

Flex Able certified employers stand out by positioning themselves as providing a truly flexible environment and candidates are assured they’re able to discuss working flexibly up front at the interview stage. We’ve had tremendous results for corporate clients, in particularly in non-traditional industries who have been transparent about how they support women’s careers- the Flex Able certification is for those who place a strong focus on flexibility in addition to being an employer of choice for women.